by Brian Heyman, USA TODAY Sports

by Brian Heyman, USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman came right out and said it. If the Yankees had it to do over, they would not have played Kevin Youkilis Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

"Playing him Saturday was a mistake by everybody involved," Cashman said.

The GM indicated that Youkilis tweaked his back when he slid into first base defensively in that game after sitting out the previous six games. The Yankees lost a chance to backdate him on the disabled list to April 21. Now that they finally put him on the DL, they could only backdate him to Sunday. Not that they can be sure that he'll be ready to go when he's eligible.

Asked if this is only a 15-day injury, Cashman said, "I'm hoping for that. He was down for 23 days last April with the same issue."

Youkilis was told not to bother coming to Yankee Stadium on Tuesday after receiving an epidural injection for his lumbar spine strain.

The Yankees still have no regular backup on the left side of the infield. The starting shortstop, Eduardo Nunez, is the main backup for Jayson Nix at third base and vice versa. Corban Joseph might get some time over at third in a pinch. Joe Girardi said Joseph could back up at first, second and third, but Cashman spoke about how bad Joseph looked at third in spring training. Joseph primarily played second base at Triple-A with a couple of games at first.

Cashman said Joseph was called up because he was on the 40-man roster. The Yankees couldn't call up David Adams because they released him at the end of spring training, so he's ineligible to play for them until May 15. Asked about the backup infield situation, Cashman said, "I've got no choice."

Cashman also said pitcher Ivan Nova's triceps inflammation is mild. Girardi said outfielder Curtis Granderson is getting closer to playing in rehab games, and he's hoping to have Granderson and Youkilis back for a nine-game stretch of division games that begins May 17. But he didn't think first baseman Mark Teixeira would be ready by then, saying that he's still only taking dry swings.